Sleeping With Giants
by everythingchanges
Summary: 1. When Martha Jones goes back to Earth for a special occassion, the Doctor finds a brand new companion who is more than he thinks she is. NOW COMPLETE WITH A PREVIEW FOR THE NEXT STORY OF THE SERIES!
1. Chapter 1

"See you in a bit Doctor!" Martha said as she waved and walked out of the TARDIS.

"Stay out of trouble! I'll be back in no time!" the Doctor shouted behind her, laughing.

Martha Jones was dressed in a pink frilly outfit that she had picked up from her mum the last time she visited Earth. After the Year That Never Happened, her parents decided to give it another go, but this dress was absolutely horrid. It wasn't her choice, but if her and her sister, Tish, wanted to be bride's maids in their parents' wedding, they had to suffer with the dresses for the night, because they would be a family again for the rest of their lives.

"Martha Jones," the Doctor grinned to himself as he stepped outside and closed the TARDIS door, "Hm, better find a parking spot."

The TARDIS dematerialized into thin air.

Across town, in an average flat, a young girl with fair skin and long black hair was putting the last perfectly folded t-shirt into her backpack when she heard that sound.

The sound of the universe, as some would call it.

She had heard so many stories of the Doctor and his adventures on that long phone call from so many miles away, a place that was considered impossible even. She had listened contently to all the stories about cat people, New New York, the Face of Boe, Daleks, and everything else and she was definitely ready to be a part of the stuff of legends, just like her friend had been.

She smiled and zipped up her backpack. As she walked out of the room, she looked out the window one last time and saw the blue box.

Once the Doctor landed, he licked his finger and stuck it up in the air. The sun was shining, wind was moving South East and London was the safest place in the world.

This meant only one thing: it was time to find a good chip shop.

"HEY! HEY! YOU! DOCTOR!"

He gasped and turned around, a bit confused, and saw the girl with the fair skin and black hair running towards him at full speed and her arms were flailing around. Once she reached him, she stopped and bent forward, hands on knees, and catching her breath.

She finally finished and looked up at him, "You're the Doctor, and I've been looking for you."

"Um…yes, hello!" The Doctor finally replied, having a chance to speak, "And…you are?"

"Oh yes," She chuckled and realized she had never introduced herself, "I'm Tristan."


	2. Chapter 2

"So, who were you sent to me by?" The Doctor asked as he unlocked the TARDIS door, "It must've been Martha. Martha Jones right?"

"Sure," Tristan shrugged, "Wow, it really is bigger on the inside." She paused right in front of the entrance and looked around. The Doctor had his arms folded and was smirking at her reaction. It never got old.

Everything she saw with her blue eyes matched what she heard with her ears that night on the telephone. From the glowing lights, the massive coral supports, the grate floor, and the low humming of the ship, it was warm and perfect and she felt at home.

"Everyone seems to say that." The Doctor's comment snapped Tristan back to reality.

"Everyone I've talked to, yeah." Tristan chuckled as she put her backpack on a seat.

"Everyone?" the Doctor's right eyebrow shot up.

"I mean, Martha," She smiled awkwardly, "So, where are we going?"

"Chip shop." He shrugged, "I was planning on looking for one until you showed up."

"Oh! I love chips," She grinned, "I know the best place, come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him outside.

"This is a nice change, I'm usually the one who holds hands first." He grinned as they halted in front of a regular looking chip shop.

"So I've heard," She smiled, "Come on!"

They spent about five minutes quietly eating their chips. During that time, the Doctor kept glancing at Tristan. He wondered why Martha sent her to him. Did she think he couldn't take care of himself or something? He had lived more than 900 years more than she had.

"What?" Tristan pulled him from his thoughts, "Do I have something on my face?"

"No, no," He exhaled, "I was just wondering if…um, if you lived alone, that's all." He focused on his chips, prodding them with his fork.

"Yeah, I actually do." She replied.

"Really? You look quite young." He looked up and saw she was smiling at him. All the tension was released from his mind, "I'd guess about 20."

"I am 20 actually," She kept smiling, "I was put in an orphanage when I was very young, in fact, I don't even have any memories of my parents or any relatives. I was a pretty big troublemaker, so no one wanted to adopt me, and no one in the orphanage really wanted to interact with me. I got several jobs when I was a teenager was able to save up enough money to purchase my own flat and move out at 18."

At that moment, the Doctor knew that he would get along with Tristan easily. She too knew what it was like to be excluded and independent.

"So you are a…. risk taker?" He asked and she nodded, "You like to…stare at danger in the face?" He lifted one eyebrow and she burst out laughing.

"I think I do Doctor."


	3. Chapter 3

"…I mean, I thought she was going mad and of course I was completely confused! She thought _I_ was the one who pushed her off the cliff!" The Doctor finished as he and Tristan finally got back to the TARDIS and unlocked the door.

"I'm pretty sure this thing will never cease to amaze me." Tristan smiled and looked around the TARDIS for the second time, her eyes finally landing on the Doctor.

"And if you stay long enough," he sat down and rested his long legs on the console, "You might just get some frequent flyer's privileges."

They both fell on the grates when the ship suddenly started shaking violently. Tristan crawled over to the side and held on to a railing while the Doctor jumped up with one swift motion and started twisting knobs and pressing buttons. After what felt like only a minute, everything stopped, and they both stared at each other, hands gripping onto whatever they could, only their wide eyes moving. The Doctor finally loosened his grip, slowly walked over to Tristan, and helped her up.

She closed her eyes and exhaled an extremely long breath, "You could've warned me about that first."

"I—I didn't do it." He said low and slowly, just as shocked as she was. But in a fraction of a second, he moved quickly like a child on a sugar high and swiveled the monitor to face him, "We are…in a cave."

He looked over at Tristan, who didn't give him a response, "Stay here, I'm going to go outside and check it out. Don't wander off." He turned around, and headed for the exit.

"No way!" Tristan finally said, making the Doctor jump, "Wait, I'm coming with you."

"Absolutely no chance," He said firmly, "There is no way I'm letting you come, we don't know what's out there."

"Exactly! We don't know what's out there! What if it comes in here and you're gone and I get killed?"

He sighed and made his way towards the exit again, "No, and anyway, the door is locked, and nothing, I mean nothing, can come in. I will see you in a bit."

He stepped out of the TARDIS smiling and glad that she finally didn't object the idea. Once he turned around to grab the door handle, he heard a click and came face to face with a pair of deep blue eyes.

"Tristan!" He growled immediately.

"Door's locked, I can't get back inside." She smiled and stepped forward before her companion could say another word.

"What's that?" She asked, staring at the blue light that was showing them the path out.

"Sonic screwdriver." He answered simply.

"What does it do?"

"Everything now stop it! We don't want to disturb anything, if there's anything in here."

She sighed and almost lost her balance on the vibrating ground. There was absolutely nothing special about this cave and she was pretty sure she would rather be traveling through time and space than walking through a cave. Now, she had never been in a cave before, but she was pretty certain all caves had gray stone walls covered with brown dirt and had brown dirt all over the ground.

"…Maybe some bats." She exhaled, letting her thoughts escape her lips.

"Some what?"

"Nothing," She whispered quickly, "Hey, what's that?" She pointed to the side where the wall was covered with engravings.

The Doctor shone the sonic on the wall, "A drawing of a person? An incredibly large person, but look, there's another drawing of a person," he moved the sonic to the right, "it looks like a woman."

As they got closer and closer to the entrance, there were several markings on the wall that resembled scratch marks and there were more drawings that looked identical to the one they saw before.

"And we're out." She squinted as the sun hit her eyes.

Everything was gray and dusty but there was no breeze to blow it, but the dirt was jumping from the constant vibrations on the ground. The bright sky was an intense orange and red, but there were no clouds and no sign of rain for ages that made the bountiful forests packed with large firs with bland brown bark and green leaves dusted in gray in front of them seem completely impossible. The duo felt a rumble creep up the front of their bodies out between the trees followed by a loud, deep cry ringing in the air.

"That's our cue!" He grinned and they both ran between the large gaps between the trees.

They walked down a very long and crooked path where the grounds vibrations got heavier and heavier and stopped when they reached a line of black iron gates. Standing behind a tree, they both peered through the bars. It was all the same scenery, but to the right, very close to the gate, there was a huge castle-like building made from wood and stones. Right behind the building, four 20-foot creatures with ropes tied to their two arms and two legs were hauling boards holding boulder-sized masses of a coal-like solid substance.

"Are those…giants?" She asked wide-eyed.

He nodded with fire in his eyes, "Those are giants, and someone is using them as slaves!"

"Well we've got to do something!" She urged and started to move towards the gate.

"No!" He quickly grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her against him, "We can't get through those gates without a good plan…or a start of a good plan. I usually make them up as I go along."

"Well can't we just get through and make one up as we go along then?"

"No!" He whispered, "Let's go back to the caves. My psychic paper is in my coat which is in the TARDIS which is in the caves and I need it for the start of my most-likely brilliant plan."


	4. Chapter 4

Tristan opened her eyes.

She was lying on the ground and her hands and legs were bound together with ropes in messy knots. Whoever did this either did a poor job, or an excellent job because the ropes didn't have just one knot, they had several knots tied one after the other. There was no way of getting out without cutting them apart with something sharp. She rotated her eyes to her left and sharp pain shot right across her skull. It felt like she had either fallen on her head or it had been hit but whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant. She quickly closed her eyes and let her head fall, feeling her blood rushing forward and her neck and shoulders relaxing. After two breaths in and two breaths out, she opened her eyes again and slowly moved her head to the left. She saw a small fire on a stack of thin twigs and piles of rope, logs, small twigs, cloth, and meat surrounded the fire, not closely, but close enough to show that they belonged to the owner of the flame. Then she heard someone coming and flicked her head to the right, preparing for the worst.

Her panic subsided when she saw dirty Converse and a pin striped suit.

"Doctor," She sighed in relief, "I can't stress how glad I am to see you."

"Well I wasn't going to just leave you here." The Doctor smirked and pulled out his sonic screwdriver, pointing it at the ropes that were around his companion.

"What are you doing?" She closed her eyes, "Untie me!"

"I am," He said casually, "Setting 4 unties ropes."

"Thank you," She sighed, "What am I doing tied up anyway? You seem to be perfectly fine."

"The giants are in here," He let her free, "They took you, and I ran and found the TARDIS."

It all came back then.

She and the Doctor had walked back to the cave in silence, a bit sad and disgusted as the mistreatment of the giants. The tension was thick and every time she glanced over at the Doctor from the corner of her eye, he'd have a stone cold look on his face and his eyes looked forward, not blinking, and his exhaled breathes quivered. Once they got back in the cave he used the sonic for light, and that light revealed a very large, dirty foot that was about the length of a surfboard. She remembered letting out a tiny squeal and flashing a panicked expression at her only hope.

"Oh, hello." The Doctor smiled up at the huge creature, the light of the sonic never burning out, "Um, I'm the Doctor and this is—"

But before he could finish, she remembered being lifted off the ground, screaming as if she didn't care if she screamed until her esophagus started pushing itself out of her mouth. She remembered the Doctor stuttering and trying to negotiate with the giant, asking it to let her go. As the giant was waving its arm, she started feeling a bit dizzy and at one point when he swung his arm, she was lifted into the air and could see the TARDIS shining a couple of feet behind them. She knew the Doctor had seen it as well when he changed the sonic's settings at lightning speed and pointed it at the foot of the giant. It might have been big, but its reflexes were pretty fast, and it cried out, dropped Tristan, and used both of its hands to grasp its foot. That's when everything went black.

She raised her right hand slowly and gently touched the bump that was growing on her head and flinched.

"Um, what happened after I was dropped?" She asked.

"It looked angry and immediately took a hold of you right after and ran off," He replied, "So I ran for the TARDIS to get my psychic paper and when I was about to walk out, I heard a group of them and decided to wait it out."

"So you just left me?!" She shrieked but instantly regretted it as it sent a shooting pain across her eyes.

"Your head hurts doesn't it?" He grasped her elbow and helped her up, "Come on, let's go back to the TARDIS, you need to take a break."

"Yeah…yeah," She looked around and spotted something carved into the wall, "Wait, Doctor, what's that?"

They both walked up to the wall behind the piles of rope, logs, twigs, and pieces of cloth, there were big, messy letters that read "MRS. RIPLEY IS FRIEND."

"Giants speak English?" She asked as she touched the giant letters, "Or have you slipped a Babel fish in my ear?"

"Just call me Ford Prefect because," He grinned, "the TARDIS, translates everything alien into English, just for you."

"Oh, right." She turned away, saying it to herself as if it was a reminder.

"Ouch!" Tristan groaned as the Doctor pressed his finger into the bump on her head, "You don't have to press it so hard!"

"Sorry," He walked around to stand in front of her, "I just wanted to see how bad it was. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Yeah." She replied faintly, distracted by objects in the TARDIS medical room.

"Right," He cleared his throat, "Here's the plan. We go back to the gates and get inside that building."

"And then?"

"Then what? That's all I've come up with."

Tristan chuckled and closed her eyes for what seemed like the millionth time that day. Her expression was uncommon when it came to the Doctor not having a plan the first time meeting him, but that was only because she was expecting it. When he walked out of the room, she left as well, but she didn't follow. She kept opening doors and looking at what was behind them. After stopping at a couple of rooms, she found the one that she was certain belonged to the Doctor.

The lights inside were glowing just like the rest of the lights in the ship. There was no wardrobe, but a desk covered books and papers, a bed with two side tables and lamps, and a single lounge chair. She grinned as she slowly walked towards the messy table. All the books had hard covers with no titles on the front, and the papers had, what looked like to her, circle like figures drawn all over them in black ink that were smudged from time to time, like tears had fallen and were never wiped off. She didn't touch a thing and wandered to the bed. The covers were wrinkly, the pillows weren't horizontal, and the blanket was crumpled in the center. It looked like someone had slept in it a very long time ago and never returned. She turned to the bedside table and she saw and picked up a picture frame with, of course, a photo inserted inside. It was of the Doctor and he was smiling, the corners of his mouth looked as if they were reaching for his earlobes and beside him there was a young girl with medium length blonde hair with the same happy expression on her face.

Tristan put the picture down, her grin turned into a full fledged smile, and she walked out of the room, gently closing the door on her way out like a mother would after secretly watching her baby fall asleep in the middle of the night.

"What are _you_ so happy about?" The Doctor asked as Tristan walked back to the control room, the smile still on her face, "You were just pummeled by a giant."

She ignored his comment and leaned on the console.

"Well," He cleared his throat, obviously confused, "I've found out where we are. If you would like to know." He saw her snap back to reality and nod, "We're on a planet in the Terasen System. Very far away from home."

"It's a system like…the Solar System?" Tristan sat on the grates and leaned on a railing, "Planets revolving around a sun? This must be like the Earth, since there are life forms on it: the giants and whoever's controlling them."

"Ah, now, that's not always the case," The Doctor corrected her, "There are tons of planets in the universe that have life that are absolutely _not_ like Earth in any way. Well, maybe just a bit. Well, actually no I take that back."

"Oh, sorry," She laughed, "I forgot who I was sitting beside."

Their conversation slowly faded and they were left sitting in a comfortable silence. The Doctor scanned Tristan from the corner of his eye for minutes at a time and he knew she was asking the same questions and thinking the same thoughts as he was. They heard rumbling and rustling, the ground was vibrating again, and all at once it became silent for a few seconds until the ground vibrated again accompanied by the sounds of snoring.

All the giants were asleep. It was time for them to go.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ow! I almost tripped over a tree root!" Tristan growled as she and the Doctor trekked through the path again.

"Here." The Doctor handed her the sonic screwdriver.

She lit it up and they walked down the path in silence. When they got to the gates, they saw the same castle-like building and all the lights were on. She handed the sonic back to him and they both took a deep breath before standing in front of the gates. She raised her hand to push the gate open, but it opened itself.

"The doors are…automatic." She gasped, "But they're using those giants as slaves? Couldn't they just get up and leave?"

"If you were that position," he whispered, "And you left, you would be scared of getting caught and faces whatever consequences would follow."

She never said anything back, but the knew that she was thinking he was absolutely correct. They inhaled at the same time, made the same faces as smoke flew up their nostrils, and stepped through the gates right feet first. After two steps, they stopped, exhaled, and looked at each other.

"Well that wasn't so bad." He shrugged.

It wasn't until they both took another step forward and an ear piercing alarm went off.

"Maybe _that's_ why they don't escape," She sighed as several security guards dressed all in black came running towards them from the distance, "are we running?"

He shoved his hand into his coat pocket, "No need," he looked straight at her, "I've got it under control. Gentlemen!" He held out the psychic paper and they all stopped, "We are employees of the Intergalactic Fuel Trade Corporation and we are here to conduct a survey on your planet's fuel distributor. May we be taken to your leader?"

The security guards didn't seem fazed at all, "Come with us," one of them said.

Immediately, the guards spread apart and made a circle around the Doctor and Tristan as they all walked towards the building. Once they all got to the giant wooden doors, the guards on the left, right, and back dispersed and left while the two guards in front stayed behind. One of the guards grabbed a large door handle and hauled the right door open. Once they all got inside, the two guards, like a well-oiled machine, resumed their positions in front of the Doctor and Tristan.

Inside, there was a wide wooden staircase in the back center of the room; the floors were covered corner-to-corner in a gold and red carpet that sported a gothic foliate design. Deep burgundy wallpaper that, too, sported a gothic foliate design was plastered all over the top half of the walls while the bottom half was lined with dark wood panels. The light sconces were dim and looked like they were meant to look like torches. The ceiling was high and decorated with intricate copper designs and large, but delicate, crystal dim chandeliers. Almost every room looked the same. The only difference was the various unique pieces of art that hung on the walls in thick golden frames. The hallways had little mahogany tables with lion-like legs carrying expensive china vases or exotic flowers and the rooms were filled with luxurious Victorian style furniture, gold and red with fringes. Nothing was dusty, it seemed like someone cleaned the place every single day.

The Time Lord and his companion were led to some sofas and were told to have a seat. They smiled and did what they were told and the two guards went to the front desk and spoke to a smiling receptionist.

Tristan plopped herself down and the sofa was so deep she almost sank into the cushions, "Bilmey," She tried to haul herself back up, "this place looks like Dracula's lair, or I'm at a masquerade and the Phantom of the Opera is going to pop up in a cloud of smoke any second." She looked over at the Doctor but he looked like he was deep in thought, so she continued talking, "So…the Intergalactic Fuel Trade Corporation huh? It sounds like complete rubbish; I can't believe it actually worked. That must've been some fancy badge you thought up on that psychic paper."

The Doctor finally cleared this throat, obviously startled at the last thing she said, "How do you know how the psychic paper works?"

"We can go up now." One of the two guards said and the Doctor and Tristan quickly, but clumsily, stood up and followed them up the wide staircase.

Once they got to the top, they turned right and walked down a narrow hallway to, what else but a door.

"We will leave you to it." The guards said quietly and hurried back down the hallway and staircase.

On the door was a thin gold plate and engraved on the plate was the name Edna Ripley. The two companions looked at each other, remembering the carvings on the cave wall, and the Doctor knocked on the door loudly.

"Come in." A female's voice called out.

When they entered, the room looked like all the other rooms in the building, except it was smaller and there was a desk and several bookshelves inside. The woman, who they automatically assumed was Edna Ripley, motioned them to sit in the two chairs that were directly in front of her desk.

"Hello," She didn't smile, "My name is Edna Ripley."

So she _was_ Edna Ripley. Her skin was like porcelain and she was wearing a very boring, very gray, power suit and black-framed glasses. She wore red lipstick on her thin lips, and her dark brown hair in a tight, tight, bun at the back of her head. She stuck out her hand with her deep purple-varnished nails out at the Tristan.

She took it and shook it firmly, trying to act as business-like as she could, "Nice to meet you, my name is Tristan Wolf and this is the—"

"John Smith." The Doctor cut her off and grasped Edna's small hand.

Edna flashed a friendly smile at the Doctor but not at Tristan, probably because he looked like he made an effort with his image.

"So," Edna clasped her hands together and placed them on top of her desk, her left hand donned a huge rock of a wedding ring, "What brings you two surveyors to our planet, Fossilius, in the middle of the night?"

"Um," Tristan said in an obvious tone, "a survey." She winced as she felt the Doctors right hand squeeze her thigh.

* * *

"…And one final question Mrs. Ripley," the Doctor started, pulling his glasses off, "What are the giants for?"

The three of them had been having a very intense time. Doctor wouldn't let Tristan say anything let alone ask any questions. He made them up all on the spot and didn't write any answers down. Edna didn't look like she was amused at all; in fact, she looked as if she could melt your face off if she stared at you for too long.

But after that single question, every muscle in her face nudged just a bit and her left hand reached for a button. When she pressed it, a shot of static filled the air.

"Benson, Rogers" She called, "I think it's time for you to take Mr. Smith and his associate back to where they came from." They could hear heavy footsteps walking towards the door instantly and she stood up, "It was nice meeting you, hopefully we can discuss business sometime."

The Doctor and Tristan were pulled all the way out past the gates.


	6. Chapter 6

"So," Tristan said while her and the Doctor sat in the TARDIS, "How did you come up with our false identities on the spot? Not that I'm complaining or anything but…it just worked like a charm."

"The Terasen system," he looked up at her, "Is a system, like your solar system, consisting of 5 planets that all supply fuel for other planets in other systems. This planet is the third one from a sun, and it's, as you heard Edna say previously, Fossilius."

"Fossilius…like fossil fuel!" She started getting a bit excited, "Those big coal looking things! They _were_ coal! And…they must have been forcing the giants to do their dirty work for them." Her face fell immediately, "We've got to go back."

"I was already planning on it," he sighed and rested his legs on the console, "why don't you go get some rest? The giants will be out at the mines in the morning so we can get out of the TARDIS safe and sound. My bedroom is on the right, down the hall, past the medical room, at the very end."

She smiled, said her thanks, and walked off.

She didn't need directions though, did she? She walked away from the console 7 steps into the hall and turned to the right, kept going down the hall, passed the medical room, and grinned as she turned the knob and entered the Doctor's room for the second time. When she opened the door, the lights turned on and glowed. She took a deep breath in and sat on the bed and removed her shoes, socks, and her belt before lying down and covering her body with the not-too-thick blanket. When she pulled the string on the tableside lamp, all the lights in the room shut off and she fell asleep in an instant.

After many hours her eyes fluttered open and noticed that the glowing lights had turned back on. She looked forward and saw the Doctor sitting at the edge of the bed on her right hand side, cradling a picture frame in his hands. When he finally looked over at her, he smiled and put the picture back on the table.

"Rise and shine," He said happily, "Time to get a move on. Oh and," He stuck his hand into the left of his jacket and pulled out a red toothbrush, "You're probably going to need this."

"Thanks," she said faintly, still a bit asleep. She got out of bed and gently grabbed the toothbrush from him, "Won't be a mo."

* * *

"Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day." The Doctor said as he noticed Tristan walking back into the control room.

"Are we making the plan up as we go along?" She asked as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

"No, not this time," he opened the door and looked outside, "I've got a plan."

It was all clear so the two companions made their usual walk out of the cave and through the forest.

"So what's this plan of yours?" She asked as she tried to avoid tripping over another tree root.

"It's quite simple actually. We just go back and do exactly the same thing we did last time except—"

"WHOA," She interrupted him loudly when she saw an old man sitting against a tree, his back against them.

She did an entire scan of his body with her eyes and a raised left eyebrow. He had short, gray hair, many wrinkles, and he was wearing a white suit with a silver tie that would've been crisp if you didn't look at the copious amount of dirt and dust that was covering it.

"Oh sorry," the old man turned and looked at the pair, "I didn't mean to startle you." He stood up and walked towards them, "my name is Hector Mars."

"Hector Mars?" The Doctor looked surprised for a moment and quickly grabbed Hector's hand a shook it with a huge smile on his face, "_the_ Hector Mars? Oh sir, it is a complete and utter pleasure to meet you. I didn't recognize you at all because well…dare I say it, you've aged a bit since your interview with Blonsky Zurhuf in the universally famous magazine, _Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneurs Weekly_."

"Maybe this will trigger your memory." Hector said as he put his left hand into a fist, put up his second finger and thumb in the shape of a gun, and held it to his chin so his head fit in between the two fingers.

"The pose!" The Doctor laughed and slapped his knee; "I always used to do that pose in the mirror after I read your interview!"

The _Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneurs Weekly_ magazine was incredibly famous when the Doctor was about 250 years old. Every week there were several articles on different business around the entire universe. The Terasen System always had a planet profiled because, since every planet produced a sort of fuel, everyone was an entrepreneur. The most famous person though was the owner of the Fossilius mines and he was the one and only Hector Mars. He was classically handsome, single, and the richest man in the Terasen System. Naturally, the ladies were all over him, the men wanted to be his friends, so he was automatically famous.

"I'm the Doctor by the way," the Doctor said after finally getting over the fact that he was most definitely star struck, "This is Tristan."

It finally hit Tristan that she was on a whole different planet.

* * *

"I used to own those mines," Hector started as the three of them settled down around the table in his little cottage for a nice cup of tea, "before that Ripley was employed and snatched it from right under my nose."

"What happened?" The Doctor asked curiously, putting his teacup down.

"Well, it all started about 26 years ago. The senior staff and I decided to open up new jobs down in the mines and that Ripley applied. We thought it was pretty strange for a woman to want to be working down in those damp, dark, dirty mines, but we interviewed her anyway because we all believe in an equal chance you know?" He sipped his tea, "So we conduct an interview with her and she turned out to be the perfect candidate and she didn't seem to mind the conditions of the mines. She worked in the mines for a while, maybe three years or so, my old mind is fading, but then somehow she got the job at the front desk and moves out of those mines. That's when she started coming into our meetings and giving us her ideas and opinions. We listened to them and they were pretty logical, reasonable, and they saved us a load of money so we promoted her. That's when she came up with the idea of using the native giants that lived on this planet to mine the coal. She said it would save us millions and makes us millions because we could just lay off all the miners and pay the giants with gifts and we could lower the prices of our fuel so more planets would purchase ours instead of the other planets in the Terasen System."

"You were doing just fine," The Doctor said, "And she just came in like that and took over? But _you're_ Hector Mars!"

"Oh yes," Hector chuckled and rested his hands on his stomach, "I _was_ Hector Mars, but then came the Big Bad Wolf and blew my house down."

"In the caves," Tristan interrupted, "I saw piles of twigs and cloths and things, you mean those are from the company? Like…bribes or peace offerings? The giants don't need money, but they need supplies right?"

"Ah!" The Doctor said, coming to a complete realization, "That's why they attacked us but they wouldn't attack the ones who enslaved them!"

"They work like…they owe her something." Tristan whispered sadly.

"Oh come on!" The Doctor looked at her and wrapped his arm around her, "We'll save them."

After several long and enjoyable conversations, they all thought it was about time for the Doctor and Tristan to leave.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye." Hector said as he showed the companions out the door.

"Wait!" The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks, "would you mind coming to my ship? I um," He rubbed his neck, "would be honoured if you would sign my copy of _Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneurs Weekly_."

* * *

Tristan looked down at her watch and sighed. They had wasted at least an hour walking from Hector's place back through the forest, through the cave, and back to the TARDIS all because the Doctor wanted an autograph and picture with his entrepreneur idol.

"Anyway, as I was saying," the Doctor cleared his throat as they were walking through the forest again, "We just go back and do exactly the same thing we did last time except now we confront Ripley with what we know and we peacefully negotiate the release of the giants."

"Peacefully negotiate?" Tristan sounded almost disappointed, "I thought there was going to be some action."

"I'm a Time Lord," he replied, mock offended, "not James Bond."

They were close to the gates but didn't go all the way. In fact, they stopped about 30 meters from the gate because there were bodyguards lining the inside of the entire place.

The Doctor and Tristan hid behind one tree each as they watched Mrs. Ripley walk up to one of them and say, "Keep a lookout for that John Smith and the girl, or you're out of here for good."

"Well there goes _that_ plan." Whispered Tristan and she and the Doctor swiftly ducked and ran back down the path towards the caves and to another night of waiting.


	7. Chapter 7

"I need to come up with a plan," The Doctor sighed, running his left hand through his hair, "a strategy…strategy…to somehow get into the premises unnoticed. I mean, we can't just waltz through the gates, you saw those guards!"

"Um," Tristan said, lying across the chair in the TARDIS control room, "Why can't we just use the TARDIS?"

He immediately looked up at her, hopefully, but then his face faltered and his hand whipped back up to his hair, "No, no that won't do. Have you heard how loud this baby is?"

"So?" She shrugged, watching him walk back and forth until his back was turned to her, "We'll still get in."

"It's not that simple," He pushed, "We can't just…go to the middle of the field. We would have to materialize into a specific room in that building to be unnoticed, but it's too risky. The chances that some guard is in one of those rooms is right off the scale."

"So?" She shrugged again, "We'll still get in."

"You know," He turned around, "You're not making this any easier."

No reply. He just watched her stand up and wander off, sighing all the way down the hallway.

'_Women,'_ He thought, _'absolutely perplexing.'_

He stopped everything for a moment and stared into space. Well, not space literally, he's already seen most of it, there's no need to stare. The last two companions he had just went with him because he asked them to. He was a complete stranger but they gave him their full trust and they only had just realized it until they were watching the universe end or when they were trapped in a motorcar surrounded by Macra. They always had a fit and asked him who or what he was and he acted as if he had the upper hand and never answered any of their questions. But now the tables were turned because it seemed as though Tristan knew everything about him and he knew nothing about her but he trusted her and let her come along.

And at that moment in time, he finally knew what it was like to be the companion.

* * *

Tristan walked down the hallway, against the wall, and tracing her fingers over the smooth surface. She walked until she hit a flight of winding stairs. Walking down, she spotted the TARDIS wardrobe. Sitting in the middle of it all, on the floor, cross-legged, she looked around. There were racks and racks of costumes and they were all in a mess, not in chronological order and the items of clothing were practically hanging on the hangers on a thread. She spotted a light blue and gold dress that looked like it had at least three petticoats under it. After staring at it for a couple of seconds, she reached over to touch the lace but before she could grab a hold of it, she heard the Doctor calling her all the way from the control room.

"Tristan!"

She rolled her eyes and pushed herself up.

"Tristan!"

She stepped up the stairs at a moderate pace and down the hall a little bit quicker.

"Tristan!"

"What?!" She said, obviously aggravated.

"Look," The Doctor sighed, "I've decided that we should materialize into a single room in the main building to get into the place. I set the co-ordinates but I want to lay down a couple of ground rules so that we don't get into any trouble. Number one: don't wander—"

But before he could finish, Tristan ran over to the console with a huge smile on her face and pulled on a random lever and the ship started moving toward its destination.

"No, no, no!" The Doctor grabbed the hair on both sides of his head, eyes wide, "You didn't listen to any of the ground rules I didn't even get to the plan yet! Oh my God how did you even know what lever to pull? This is a complete disaster!"

He immediately stopped when he noticed that the girl was just standing there smiling and staring at him.

"Doctor," She gently grasped his arms and pulled them off his head, still smiling, "shut up."

There was pounding on the door.

They both turned their heads instantly.

"Well I guess that's us," She shrugged, "let's be off then."

She started heading towards the exit when he quickly pulled her sleeve back to him, "There is absolutely no way you are going out there. I'm going first."

"What? Why?" She objected, ripping her arm out of his hold.

"My brain comes up with lines quicker." He said simply, ignoring her offended reaction, "here," he said, giving her a single key, "this is a key to the TARDIS, if anything happens and we get split up, you can get back here. Now, I'm going first to distract those guards."

"What are you going to do?" She chuckled quietly, "expose your leg?"

"Shh!" He hissed and opened the door.

Tristan gasped when she saw four arms grab him immediately, but she calmed down when she saw his head turn and he winked at her before he stretched out a Converse clad foot to kick the TARDIS door shut.

* * *

"How lovely to see you again Mr. Smith." Mrs. Ripley smirked as the Time Lord was dropped into a chair in front of her office desk.

"Just let me ask you one little thing Edna." The Doctor started.

"I've had enough of your silly questions John," she smiled, "for all I know, you're not even conducting an actual survey. I know exactly what you're up to."

"You do?" He replied a little bit stunned.

"Oh of course," She stood up to walk around her office, "I saw you talking to that Hector Mars, total piece of scum by the way, couldn't even protect his own business from me."

"Oh, yes?"

"But you don't need to pretend anymore John," She sat on top of the desk and crossed her legs and arms, "Just come out and tell me John."

"Tell you what?" He swallowed nervously.

"I've been waiting for an interview with _Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneurs Weekly_ since I subscribed when I was a little girl! You could've just told me instead of making up that story about conducting a survey! I knew you guys were sneaky but I didn't know how bad it was!"

"What?"

* * *

With the push of a button the control room monitor showed the outside world. Well, room, that is. Tristan stared into the dimly lit room and spun a wheel that turned the outside camera around the room. It was completely empty.

She sighed, _'I should've listened to those blasted ground rules if I knew the plan was the follow up.'_

"What am I supposed to do?" She groaned and leaned her elbows on the console. Her head shot up as she thought of an idea. Finally grinning, she whipped down the hallway and stopped at a slim door that was closed.

'_Yes, closet.'_ She thought and turned the doorknob.

She groaned again when she flicked the light switch and the room was a complete mess. She threw her arms out to her side for balance as she slowly tried to step through the thin pathway that separated the two huge piles of objects to two sides of the rooms. It was so thin she had to step forward one foot at a time. Once she got to the middle of it all, she turned her head around and around, trying to look for something she could use as a weapon.

'_This is going to take a while.'_ She sighed for the one-millionth time that day and sat down on a tall jar-like container that contained clear bubbling liquid and a hand.

Right at that moment, she spotted a plastic bag that had masking tape stuck on the front like a label. The label said "perception filter necklaces' on it.

'_Perception filter necklaces,'_ She rested her elbow on her knee and her chin on her hand, _'Necklaces that…filter your perception? Perception like…what you see? Filtering what you see?'_

"YES!" She jumped off the bubbling hand and finally looked down at what she was sitting on, "Ew gross." She quickly swiped her hand across her rear end and reached over to grab the bag with the necklaces in them.

Then she noticed that there was a piece of paper taped on to the back of the bag that had a really long message written on it in English.

Doctor, this is a message for yourself if you somehow get amnesia or a daft companion whom you don't feel like explaining anything to. These are the perception filters that you made in the Year that Never Happened with Captain Jack Harkness (cheeky immortal 51st century man) and Martha Jones (companion that basically saved your shriveled body in a cage). When you put one of these on your neck, nobody will see you, well, they will see you but it will feel like you're just something in the corner of their eye. One little thing, do not shout or wave your arms around or do anything to attract attention to yourself, because the perception filter will not work anymore and everyone will be able to see you.

"Excellent. Absolutely brilliant." She grinned and took one of the necklaces out of the bag and placed it into her pocket.

She turned around to leave when something caught her eye. On the same shelf was a metal stick with a yellow top that looked like a chunkier version of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. She shrugged and grabbed it off the shelf as well and slipped it higher up her sleeve just incase she had to whip it out.

She ran back out to the control room and stopped at the exit. She patted down her pockets to check if she had the TARDIS key and the perception filter necklace.

Taking a deep breath, she gently grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door. Once she closed it behind her, she took the perception filter necklace out of her pocket and hung it around her neck.

'_I hope these don't have an expiration date.'_

At first, she walked slowly through the doorway and into the main foyer. After realizing that none of the three guards in the place actually saw her, she walked up the main stairs at a normal pace and down the hallway towards Mrs. Ripley's office. She sighed a breath of relief when she saw that there were no guards outside of Ripley's office.

'_They must've gone back to the TARDIS,'_ She thought as she got closer and closer to the door.

Her hand levitated towards the doorknob until she heard Mrs. Ripley's loud voice and she bent down on her knees to look through the keyhole.

"…And then you came in wearing that attractive suit John," Mrs. Ripley said in a low voice, "By the way, what is your real name?"

"Erm, Doctor." The Doctor grimaced.

"Doctor Smith," She giggled, "I think I've read some of your pieces!"

"Oh…you have?"

"Oh yes Doctor," She leaned over him, making close eye contact, incredibly oblivious of the pained face he was making, "It would be a pleasure to be interviewed by you."

And she got closer.

And closer.

And closer.

"Alright that's enough!" the door flung open and hit the wall, "You are incredibly nasty." It was Tristan, and she was pointing the sonic screwdriver-like device straight at Mrs. Ripley.

Mrs. Ripley's eyes widened and she backed away when she saw what Tristan was pointing at her.

"Where did you get that laser screwdriver?" the Doctor automatically freaked out.

"The same place I got this perception filter necklace," Tristan replied, pulling it off her neck, "closet."

"What on Fossilius is going on—" Mrs. Ripley started.

"You're going to get away from my friend," Tristan said still pointing the laser screwdriver at Mrs. Ripley, "and then you're going to take us to the giants."


	8. Chapter 8: Fin

"Benson, Rogers," Mrs. Ripley pressed a button and called them up, "we're going outside."

Approximately one minute later, the two guards were knocking on the door. Mrs. Ripley stepped in front of the Doctor and Tristan to open it.

"Follow me." She smiled and walked out, leaving the door open.

Tristan started to move forward but the Doctor grabbed her hand and said, "Listen, I have a plan. I'll follow Ripley outside and you go back to the TARDIS, plug in the co-ordinates to the middle of the field and meet us outside."

"But…I don't know how to do it!" Tristan protested, "Why can't I go with the old hag and you go back to the TARDIS?"

"Because I can obviously keep her distracted for a very long time," He winked at her and skipped out the door calling for Mrs. Ripley to wait for him.

Tristan immediately frowned and pulled the perception filter necklace over her head and walked out of the office, closing the door on her way out.

* * *

"Where is your little friend Tristan?" Mrs. Ripley asked the Doctor as they walked through the foyer.

"Oh, she was just an intern working at the magazine," he lied, "Once you walked away I immediately sacked her. I just need someone to hand me a coffee, not barge in during a…meeting."

"Oh yes," she nodded, "totally agree."

The two bodyguards pushed the doors open and they made their way to the giants.

* * *

Tristan waited at the top of the stairs until Mrs. Ripley and the Doctor had left the building until she made her slow descent to the TARDIS.

The door to the room was wide open and she realized that the same two guards must have been walking out to the field as well.

Once she unlocked the door and stepped inside, the ship greeted her with a low hum and she shoved the key into her pocket. She walked down the hallway away to the closet and returned the necklace and the laser screwdriver. Then she went over to the ships library in search for the co-ordinates.

'_There must be some kind of…universe atlas or something around here.'_ She thought, skimming the bookshelves, _'He really needs to sort these books out. Yes, the Terasen System!'_

She pulled the thin book off the shelf and flipped the pages until she found the title 'Fossillius.' Her look of relief fell completely when she found a lengthy article about it on the left side and a single picture of the planet from outer space on the right side. She turned to the next page, but it was no use, there was nothing else on Fossilius. Tucking the book under her left arm, she continued looking through the rest of the shelves.

Frustrated and tired, she walked back to the control room. She stopped right in front of the console and sat on the grates, crossing her legs. She pulled the Terasen System planet book from under her arm and turned back to the Fossilius page.

"Fossilius…one of the greatest coal mines…blah, blah, blah…" She read out loud and lifted the book into the air, the inside of the book pointing towards the console, "CAN SOMEBODY HELP ME?!"

Nothing happened. She threw the book to the side and held her head in her hands.

Fortunately, when she stood up and turned around to go back to the library, she heard a loud and low-pitched BEEP BEEP BEEP. She turned around, and on the screen, there was an image of Fossilius just like in the book, but with a latitude and longitude grid around it. She slowly walked over and turned one of the knobs to the right. The picture was zooming in, and the image on the screen looked exactly like what was outside. She pushed a switch to the right and she could see what was on the right. After moving the image up, down, left, and right several times, she finally found the building she was in.

"Yes I love you." She whispered.

Once she found the building, she zoomed in and tried to remember the things she learned in school about reading latitude and longitude to find the co-ordinates. She had to work quickly because she realized that the Doctor and Mrs. Ripley had probably been out in the field for a really, really long time and he was probably racking his brain with things to distract her with.

She pulled the lever and that familiar sound filled the room.

* * *

The Doctor sighed in relief as he felt a strong gust of wind blow through his hair.

Mrs. Ripley screamed and jumped out of the way just in time as the TARDIS started materializing on top of her. Well, not exactly on top of her, but where she was previously standing. The two guards quickly made their way towards the ship, but the Doctor was faster and spread his long arms across the front.

"I don't think so gentlemen." He said firmly.

Sadly, the Doctor's whole mean façade was broken when Tristan opened the door and his bottom half fell inside the TARDIS.

She jumped back, clearly startled, "Oh…sorry."

"Here's the deal Mrs. Ripley," he quickly stood back up in one swift motion, "I'm the Doctor, not Doctor John or whoever you thought I was, just the Doctor. I didn't fire Tristan and we don't work for _Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneurs Weekly _magazine."

"You fired me?" Tristan whispered as she stepped out of the TARDIS.

"What? No." He turned back to Mrs. Ripley, "We just want to talk about the way you treat these beings, the giants. We want you to stop using them for mining your coal. They are citizens of this planet and they don't have to be tricked into working for you. I can find other ways, I can – we can help you. So what do you think?"

Mrs. Ripley paused for a moment, "Get them."

The Doctor and Tristan stepped into the TARDIS just before the guards could grab a hold of them. The ship dematerialized and materialized right after, right across from where it was before.

Then the Doctor stepped out first, sonic screwdriver at his side, and Tristan second.

"We will just do that until you negotiate something with us." He smiled.

"Absolutely not," Mrs. Ripley said, "this is my company and I'll do what I like. You have no business coming here and telling me how to do my job."

A long row of giants slowly walked by the group, pulling coal on wooden boards across the dusty ground.

"But it's not fair," Tristan interrupted, the vibrating ground didn't affect her one bit, "You can't just bribe the giants and then enslave them like they have no other choice. They live here and have just as many rights as you do. If money is all you care about, or being in that stupid magazine—"

The Doctor cleared his throat.

She sighed, "_Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneurs Weekly_, then you are the most pathetic person I have ever met. You don't care about anyone else but yourself and your reputation! Well how are people going to react when they find out you are nothing but a slave driver?"

Mrs. Ripley's ears might as well have been steaming, because her expression was absolutely furious, "You, child, have no right to say that to me. This way has made this planet one of the top providers of energy."

Tristan only responded by whispering into the Doctor's ear. He smiled and slid the sonic into her hand.

"Well, I had a really great time Edna Ripley." He nodded to her and went inside the TARDIS.

Mrs. Ripley was as confused as ever, "What did you say to him?"

"I said," Tristan smiled, lighting up the sonic, "that setting four unties rope."

And with that, she pointed the sonic at the ankle of one of the giants walking by. The rope that was tied to his ankle came undone instantly. She did the same with his arms. The entire row of giants stopped to look; even Mrs. Ripley and the guards were frozen in shock.

The giant turned his head towards Tristan and nodded slowly in gratitude. Then he raised his arms in the air and let out a loud cry that shook almost everything. All the other giants joined as he ripped apart the ropes of the giant in front of him.

Tristan opened the TARDIS door, and when she turned one last time, she saw every giant helping each other out and ripping their ropes.

"No hard feelings!" She waved at Mrs. Ripley and closed the door.

* * *

The TARDIS materialized near a small house in the forest.

"Ah!" Hector Mars ran out the door, "You've returned!"

The Doctor stepped out, "I've come with a message-"

"Hi." Tristan stuck her head out of the TARDIS and waved at Hector.

"Oh, hello dear!" Hector smiled.

"Anyway," The Doctor cleared his throat, "I think we just overthrew Edna Ripley. It's your chance to return and become the great Hector Mars once again!"

"Are you serious?" Hector asked and when the Doctor nodded he laughed, "Thank you. I guess I'll be off then. Good luck to you both."

* * *

"Well there's the end of that one," The Doctor smiled but it fell when he saw Tristan holding her bag "are you going somewhere?"

"Well it's over isn't it?" She asked awkwardly, "Time to go back home and get Martha?"

"She won't be back for a while," he replied quietly, "Come on, let's go put your things away."


	9. Next Story Preview and Authors Note

Tristan's eyes fluttered open but they closed instantly when the first thing she saw was the flickering flame of a candle.

Once her eyes were adjusted, she peeled her cheek off the tiled floor and lifted herself up by her sore wrists. She placed one hand on her waist and felt lace. Obviously confused she quickly looked down, she was wearing that dress she saw in the TARDIS on their last journey: the light blue and gold dress that looked like it had at least three petticoats.

That's when he called her back to the control room, but where was he now? And how did she get here?

"Miss," a blond man wearing unusually high waisted pants and a coat with long tails ran up to her and kneeled down, "where have you been? Your father Sir Doctor has been looking for you."

"My father, Sir _Doctor_?"

"Yes miss," the man looked concerned, "are you alright?"

"Um, yeah," She looked around the room, "what day is it today?"

"Well miss, it is February 18th, 1857."

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE:** I just want to say **thanks** for all the people who read and reviewed this, even if you didn't go all the way to the end and even if you didn't review, I still thank you. I really enjoyed writing this story. I've decided since the beginning that it will be a series with gosh knows how many stories and it will end up branching into _Torchwood_ with a_ Torchwood _series as well. So please stay tuned for that! And of course, stay tuned for my next story. 


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